Brassieres or bras are worn by many women to support their breasts and to facilitate a desirable shape and appearance. Bras are made with a variety of constructions to provide different amounts of support to different areas of the breasts. The type of bra selected to be worn by a woman is influenced by her personal preferences regarding appearance and comfort as well as by the activity to be performed while she is wearing the bra. For example, a sports bra is a type of bra that is generally casual in appearance and provides more support to the woman's breasts, reducing movement of the breasts during physical exercise. Sports bras generally provide additional support by encapsulating and/or compressing the breasts. Sports bras that encapsulate the breasts usually have molded cups which separate the breasts and provide support around each breast, whereas sports bras that compress the breasts usually apply uniform pressure to flatten the breasts against the chest.
Women often prefer to wear sports bras during physical exercise to reduce movement of the breasts and resulting discomfort. Different types of physical exercise can result in varying amounts of breast movement. For example, performing a low-impact exercise, like yoga, will generally cause less breast movement than performing a high-impact exercise, like running Additionally, larger breasts will generally move more during physical exercise than smaller breasts. Accordingly, women may prefer to wear sports bras having a wide variety of amounts and types of support. Additionally, a woman may prefer to wear different types of sports bras for different types of physical exercise.
For women who have larger breasts and who wish to perform high-impact activities, prior sports bras may not provide adequate support to reduce movement and resulting discomfort. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an improved sports bra. It would be advantageous if the sports bra could provide adequate support for women having larger breasts and/or women who wish to perform high-impact activities. It would also be advantageous if a minimum number of components could be added to the construction of the improved sports bra to keep the costs of materials and production lower.